“It was magical,” Martin proclaims at the presscon of his “Royals” Valentine concert with Regine Velasquez, Erik Santos and Angeline Quinto. “Noon pa talaga gustong ma-meet ni Pops si Santino, who’s now nine years old. I just want to make it clear that Santino wasn’t born while Pops and I were still together. Ganun kasi akala noong iba, which is not true. But Pops is beyond that. She’s more mature. A lot of women would not want to even do that, but she has always wanted to meet Santino kasi even then, I’m showing her na baby pictures of Santino. Nag-meet na rin sila before on Facetime. And so when Santino met her, immediately, pagbaba niya ng kotse, sigaw niya, ‘Tita Pops!’ We were in Disneyland for like five days, and it’s usually very hard to pull Santino away from Disneyland, but when I told her we’ll meet Pops, he said yes right away. He has met his Kuya Robin and Kuya Ram in person before and now, I introduced him to the mom of his Kuyas. Sobrang saya ko talaga na nagkasama lahat ng mga anak ko for Christmas. It was a very nice moment and natupad yung wish ko na all my kids will be together for the holidays. But when we were saying our goodbyes, Santino wouldn’t want to let go of his Kuyas and Tita Pops. Pops began to cry. It was touching to see them. I told Robin and Ram that, if anything happens in the future, they should continue this bonding tradition with their brother.”
About “Royals”, what made them choose Erik and Angeline to be their co-stars in their Valentine concert at the MOA Arena on February 13 and Waterfront Hotel Cebu on February 14? “When Erik and Angeline had their show at Araneta last year, Regine and I were guests and Anna Puno of Starmedia, our producer, got the idea from there. They’ve both made a name for themselves naman, di ba? Erik is Prince of Pop and Angeline si Queen of Teleserye Theme Songs, so okay lang pagsamahin kami in one big concert like ‘Royals’.”
What can viewers expect from “Royals”? “A royal show perfectly fit for a royal audience. We have come up with a lineup of songs that’s really fit for royalty. Members of the audience will be our kings and queens. It’s a special treat as it’s Valentine and they’re watching the four of us together. We’ll do four different interpretations of the same songs. Opening number pa lang, sulit na. We will also sing their winning numbers together, ‘This is the Moment’ for Erik and ‘What Kind of Fool I Am’ for Angeline.”
